Um, what in the world was that??? Because it looked exactly like the same ol’ Raiders

OAKLAND — This was supposed to be a grand debut, a silver and black proclamation.

The Raiders were supposed to announce their arrivals as a competitive franchise. Sunday was the coming out party at which they would show how much they’ve changed, that all the preseason hype and hope was valid.

The fans packed out the house bubbling with energy, ready to cause an earthquake at the Coliseum, ready to make their case to keep the team in Oakland.

But the same ol’ Raiders showed up.

They had a chance against a good Cincinnati Bengals team to show they’d taken a step forward. Instead, a 33-13 loss.

“It felt like a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop, man,” linebacker Malcolm Smith said. “It was just hard to get our grip, hard to get in control. We just struggled all around.”

Smith, the Raiders’ key free agent who was accustomed to championship football in Seattle, left the locker room with a “what just happened???” look on his face.

Everybody was caught off guard by that Raiders showing on Sunday. Everybody expected more. The coaches. The players. The fans. The media. Even the Bengals were chippy like they expected a fight. This was supposed to be competitive, tough match-up between good teams.

Next thing you know, the Raiders were down 30-0, at home, getting boo’d. The Del Rio era is already looking like the Dennis Allen era. And the Tom Cable era. And the Lane Kiffin era.

“Not the kind of performance we expected to have out there today,” Del Rio said. “It was a very disappointing, embarrassing effort.”

We were expecting to see the infancy of a potent offense, featuring a real running game and a skilled young quarterback with several new options.

Instead, we got the same ol’ dink-and-dunk attack from last year, void of moxie and imagination.

It looked as if Carr and rookie receiver Amari Cooper, the dynamic duo everyone’s been waiting to see, met today. They missed on their first three connections, the first a Cooper drop and the next two poor throws from Carr. The second-year quarterback looked nervous and jittery, missing throws and not taking any shots downfield.

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave dismissed the run game early and the Raiders totaled four first downs in the first half.

We were expecting to see a physical, nasty defense impose its will like defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. once did.

Instead, we got the same ol’ Raiders’ soft, undisciplined defense that wilts against real ballers. The tag team of Jeremy Hill and Giovanni Bernard totaled 126 yards and routinely exposed the Raiders’ poor tackling.

We were all expecting to see the culture change under new coach Jack Del Rio, producing a more energetic and professional team.

Instead, we got the same ol’ Raiders, who shoot-themselves-in-the-foot with dumb plays and uninspired effort. They had a 60-yard run wiped out with a holding penalty. They let Bengals tight end waltz up the middle of the field to the tune of 104 yards and two touchdowns. The worst move of the night probably came from Carr, who opted not to slide at the end of a second-quarter scramble but stiff-arm a defender with his throwing hand. He didn’t return.

If Carr is out for any length of time, this allegedly improved edition may not ever show up.

By halftime, the Raiders was down 24-0. And as they trotted to the locker room, the same fans who were ready to go bananas about their new-and-improved team were booing the same ol’ Raiders.

You know it was bad when it took a halftime memorial service for the late Ken Stabler to cheer up the crowd up.

Silver lining: no way the NFL wants a team this bad to play in Los Angeles. Another season of the same ol’ Raiders might kill their relocation bid.

It wasn’t like the Raiders had to win for validation. Cincinnati, a playoff-caliber team, was always going to be a tough one. But no way they should completely overmatched like they did Sunday.

The Raiders got utterly humiliated. And not by New England or Seattle. They were thoroughly outclassed by a Bengals crew that has yet to win a playoff game. What’s going to happen against Denver? Green Bay? Kansas City? Heck, next week’s game vs. Baltimore feels like a pipe dream.

“I take full responsibility,” Del Rio said. “But we’ll get it turned around and corrected.”

This could be just an anomaly. Maybe the Raiders really are different, just a bit of stage fright led to a shaky start, which spiraled into an epic embarrassment.

But after that performance, it‘s hard not to conclude these are the same ol’ Raiders. And they’re going to have to prove they’ve changed on the field, in regular season games, before we can truly believe it.